Back to the fluff ... Highlander sheep fleece part one

 Remember I mentioned a new breed/cross fleece from highlander sheep?

Well, I opened my front door just before we went away to find a box sitting in the doorway, a big box which has been residing in the kitchen waiting for me to return.

It weighs over 3 kilos and I suspect that it contains the promised fleece, I will open it properly tomorrow and investigate ( as long as its not raining )

I found some breeding info here but I haven't found anything that relates to the fleece yet.

later

the box was opened and I  found a lovely letter from Val explaining that she knows the farmer and the shearer and is a spinner herself. She wants to educate other spinners about this breed as she was so delighted with it.

First impressions are good, Romney like lustre and fairly fine. I emptied it out of the bag and tried to unroll it but the fleece is so open that it drifted apart very quickly.

Well skirted, clean, very little veg matter. Val had enclosed a sample of washed and spun fibre which gave some indication of what to expect.

I have two bags soaking in hot water, very sudsy as even though there is not much detergent I made the mistake of putting it in before the water... bubbles everywhere again :-)

Once the fleece is dry. I will comb, spin and spin a sample so look out for part two in the next couple of days xx